With the release of the new Gold Jacks music video Take It Back, directed and produced by STANDBY director Ashley Yarwood. We decided to chat all things music videos.
How do you come up with the creative treatment for a music video?
To begin with there’s always a little bit of back and forth with the band, trying to find out exactly what kind of style, mood and look they’d be happy with. Sometimes the artist is looking for a more performance driven film, sometimes they’re happy to go with a narrative-driven idea, and occasionally there’s something in-between these two. The most important thing for me is that the video matches the vibe of the song, as the film should always compliment the track and vice versa. I’ve always believed that it’s more important that a music video synch up to the atmosphere of a track, and not just recite the song’s lyrics word for word. I remember back in university, my music video lecturer told me that the video content should always bear some kind of relation to the lyrics – I disagreed with that then, and really disagree with that now!!
Next we would usually go away and put the single on on repeat to see if there are any images or visuals that immediately pop out to us, and we would generally build the treatment around whatever kind of “hook” we came up with. Afterwards it’s a case of working on the “look” of the film and whether we want a handheld, documentary style, or something more composed and measured, and also what kind of colour and lighting scheme we feel would work best (natural/daylight vs. artificial, etc).
How long on average does it take to film a music video?
It depends on what the treatment is really! If it’s a performance driven film then we can capture that inside half a day sometimes, but anything involving a “story” with actors and different locations can obviously spill over into a day or two of filming. We’re very fast at STANDBY, but we also know that capturing that perfect shot does take time.
Do you have any favourite music video directors who’s work you really love?
There’s quite a few. The classic one I think everyone loves to say is Michel Gondry, as I think everyone agrees his videos are just endlessly inventive and creative. Jonathan Glazer is another one who has produced most of my favourites, and I think it’s telling that as well as being an accomplished music video director, he’s also probably one of the most exciting film directors out there too. More recently I’d say that Emily Kai Bock’s work is incredibly stylish and has an amazing energy, and Aoife McArdle’s trilogy of videos for James Vincent McMorrow were stunning.
What is the best part of producing a music video?
I think the best part of producing any music video is the freedom to be creative. At STANDBY we put creativity at the heart of everything we do, and I think music video’s allow you to take that another step further, as you have the ability to put whatever crazy idea you have in your head onto the screen and don’t have to necessarily justify it as being “logical” – as long as it looks spectacular you’re on to a winner!
Favourite all time music video?
Hands down “Street Spirit” by Jonathan Glazer for Radiohead. I still remember seeing this for the first time when I was younger and it blowing my mind – to be honest, even now it still does!
Check out Gold Jacks Take it Back